You May Forget Me
by Moonbeam-987
Summary: Something is wrong with Derek. His left leg is hurting him all the time and he almost passes out from the pain. A doctor's visit reveals what is wrong... One girl will be there to help him through this. DASEY! Rated T
1. This Has To Be A Dream

**Hello everyone! I know I really need to work on _In Pain You Find Love_, but i got this idea for a story, and I had to write it down. I was just going to keep it on my computer until I finished _IPYFL_, but I really wanted to see how you guys would react to it and if I should keep writing it. If I get really good reviews for it I will continue it, but if I dont' I will probably take it down and make it into a oneshot or something, so your reviews are very important here! I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own LWD, nor do I own Michael... :(**

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"D, what's wrong with you?" Sam asked as we walked down the hallway after hockey practice was over.

"I don't know, but my leg is killing me." I said as I stopped and sat down up against the lockers that lined the hall and rubbed the knot on my shin. _I don't remember getting hit in the leg at hockey practice…_

"Derek, Coach said that he might have to bench you next game if you don't show improvement from these past two weeks…" Sam said as he sat beside me.

"Ugh! It's not even my fault that I've been having trouble playing! My leg just hurts all the time." I said banging my head back against the locker.

"Maybe you should go see a doctor."

"I guess I'll have to if I want to play in the game next week… I'll go after school tomorrow."

With that we got up and walked out of the school. He walked off to his car and I stood on the sidewalk waiting for Casey to show up. I got grounded last week and lost all privileges; the car, my cell phone, and the TV.

She pulled up into the parking lot and stopped right in front of me. I threw my stuff in the back seat and got into the passenger seat. She put the car in reverse, backed out, and then we were off.

"Do you want to go to the mall or something?" she asked when we stopped at the red-light.

"Umm… sure, that sounds ok."

When Casey and I started our senior year of high school we realized that from the time we had met each other we had been really childish, and it was time to grow up. Ever since that epiphany we have become very close. I guess you could say we were _best friends_? We hang out every day after school, and we mostly keep to ourselves with Sam and Emily. Casey's the one I go to when I'm having problems with girls and for any other problems I have, and she does the same. _I_ _guess we are best friends…_

We pulled into the mall parking lot and got out. My leg was still killing me, but I knew that Casey would want to try on clothes and have my opinion on them, so I would be sitting a lot. We walked through the doors of the mall and Casey practically ran to the first store she saw. I slowly trailed after her all afternoon telling her whether an outfit was cute or not; every outfit ended up being cute on her. We got back to the car and I got into the passenger seat as Casey threw her bags into the back.

"Do you want to go get something to eat?" she asked as she slid into the driver's seat.

"Won't Nora have supper ready when we get home?" I asked confused.

"No, she and George took the rest of the kids out to eat tonight to celebrate all of them having good grades."

"Oh, well then that sounds good. I'm starving!"

"Where do you want to eat?" she asked.

"Umm… Muldoon's?" I asked hoping she would say yes; Muldoon's is my favorite.

"That sounds good." She said as she pulled out of the parking lot.

It took about ten minutes, but we were finally there. My stomach felt like it was about to eat itself if I didn't get some pepperoni and sausage pizza in it. We walked in and were seated, ordered a half cheese half pepperoni and sausage, and waited for it to come out. It soon came and I had eaten my entire half before Casey finished her first slice. While she ate the rest of her side we talked about school and other things.

"Yeah, Max is dating Sage now, but it's ok, I'm over him... How is hockey going?" she asked changing the subject.

"Well my left leg has been killing me and I haven't been doing my best, Coach said he might have to bench me." I said looking down at my hands, feeling like a failure.

"That's awful! Why is your leg bothering you?" she asked as she finished her last slice.

"I have no idea. Could you make me a doctor's appointment for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I guess. Why don't you ask George to make you one?"

"I don't want to worry him." I said.

"Ok, I'll call first thing in the morning."

"Thanks Case."

"You're welcome." She smiled at me with dazzling white teeth.

We left Muldoon's and made our way home. My leg was still throbbing, but it felt better than it did earlier. Entering the house I was met with Marti running towards me with her arms opened wide. I bent down to catch her in a hug, but instead she ran straight into my left leg and latched on to it.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed as pain radiated from my shin all the way up my leg.

"What's wrong Smerek?" Marti asked as she backed away from me and the rest of the family came running.

"Derek what happened!" my dad asked as I fell to the floor in pain.

I couldn't say anything. The pain from my leg had me curled up on the floor, clutching it in hopes that the pain would disappear. I could hear my dad asking questions, but the pain surging up my leg was drowning everything out. Casey had dropped to the ground with me and rubbed my back trying to help. After a couple of minutes the pain was finally bearable and I could talk.

"Derek what happened?" Nora asked looking at me with concern filling her eyes.

"I don't know. My leg has been hurting for a couple of weeks and Marti just ran and hugged me on the leg, it hurt really bad." I said listening to the lame story coming out of my mouth.

"That doesn't sound good. Maybe we should take you to the hospital…" my dad said looking towards Nora.

"No, it's ok. Casey was going to make me a doctor's appointment for tomorrow anyways."

"Ok, I guess that will be ok. Do you think you can get up?" Nora asked.

"No." I could barely move my leg without it hurting.

"Edwin, help me move Derek to his chair." Dad said as he moved over to me.

Edwin went to my right side as my dad took my left side. Each of them got underneath an arm and hoisted me up to where all my weight was on them and my right leg. They got me down in my chair and all hovered.

"I'm ok guys."

"Are you sure Derek?" Lizzie asked concerned.

"Yes Lizzie, I'm fine. Go about your business people." I shooed them way and they all went their separate ways; except Casey.

"Uh… Derek, are you sure you're ok?" she asked wrapping her arms around herself.

"For the millionth time, yes, I am ok." I said throwing my hands in the air.

She just stood there and I saw her eyes getting misty. Her hand flew up to her mouth and tears started rolling down her face. I patted my lap and she slowly and carefully sat down and I wrapped my arms around her.

"What's wrong Case?" I asked genuinely worried.

"Your l-leg… you s-s-screaming… th-the p-p-pain on your f-face…" her sobs overtook her voice and she silently sobbed into my chest.

"Shhh… It's going to be ok Casey. I probably just got hit at hockey practice wrong. It's going to be ok." I said trying to calm her down.

"B-b-but what if-f something is really wrong?" she asked wiping away her tears.

"Nothing is going to be wrong," I said as I wiped a stray tear with my thumb, "I'm going to be ok."

"Ok?" she whispered.

"Yes, O.K." I said smiling down at her.

She smiled back at me and rested her head back on my chest. We sat there for a while, just sitting while I played with strands of her hair and she drew circles on my chest. Soon her breathing evened out and I saw her eyes slowly drooping closed, but didn't say anything. As she slept on me all I could think about was; _What if there is something wrong with me. What if I have to have surgery? What if I can never play hockey again? Don't think like that Derek, everything is going to be fine._ I pushed all of the bad thoughts out of my head and fell asleep.

I woke up, after a restless sleep, sitting in my chair alone. My leg felt better than it did last night and I could faintly hear Casey singing in the kitchen. I slowly got up out of my chair and walked through the door to see her making breakfast. She had her back turned to me and didn't hear my walk in so she just kept singing. I slowly walked up behind her and put my lips right beside her ear.

"Save it for the professionals." I whispered in her ear. She jumped ten feet in the air and spun around quickly.

"DER-EK!" she yelled as she banged her hands on my chest.

"I couldn't resist!" I said latching my hands around her wrists.

"Umm… breakfast is ready." Her cheeks blushed pink and she looked down at her shoes.

"Mmm, smells good." I let go of her wrists and moved over to the stove to shovel some bacon and eggs onto a plate.

I sat my plate on the counter, went to the fridge to get some milk, poured it into a glass, and returned to the counter to sit on the stool. While eating I looked up at the clock for the first time and saw that it read _9:26am. _I jumped up off of the stool and it sent pain up my leg. I held back a muffled scream and Casey was at my side in two seconds.

"Derek! What's wrong?" she asked looking at me with worry in her eyes.

"I just got up to fast. We're late for school, I better go get ready." I started to walk out of the kitchen when her hand wrapped around my arm.

"Derek, we're not going to school today."

"Why?" I asked confused.

"Mom and George thought that since after what happened last night with your leg that you should stay home and go to the doctor, and I volunteered to stay with you." She said confidently.

"Ok, when is my doctor's appointment?"

"Not until one-thirty."

"Ok, well I guess we have a lot of time to waste. What you wanna do?" I asked trying to think of something to do.

"I don't know…" she said shyly, not wanting to tell me.

"Come on Case, there has to be something you want to do."

"I would really like to go to the… playground." she said as a small smile showed up on her face.

"The playground it is! Let me go take a shower real quick and we'll go to the playground." Her smile grew bigger and the next thing she was in my arms giving me a hug.

Soon, all too soon, she let go and went up stairs to her room to get ready. I slowly took each step of the stairs carefully, not wanting to have the shooting pain up my leg return. I jumped in the shower and let the hot water run over my leg, hoping it would soothe the pain. I got out, wrapped a towel around my waste and made my way to my room. I pulled out my favorite, old pair of blue jeans and a purple t-shirt and got dressed. I let my hair air-dry in it unusual disarray, sprayed some cologne on, pulled on my favorite grey Converse, and walked out of my door. I walked over to Casey's door and knocked on it.

"I'm ready Casey. Come on." I yelled through the door.

"I'm coming!" she yelled back.

The door opened and my breath caught in my throat._ She's stunning…_ Her curled hair was pulled into a low-side ponytail; she was wearing a deep-magenta colored shirt, paired with khaki shorts and magenta Converse. Her skin glowed and her pink lips pulled back to show off her white, pearly teeth.

"Close your mouth, bugs might fly in."

"Uhhh…" I closed my mouth that was actually hanging open, "Are you ready?"

"Yes, let's go!" she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car.

When we got to the park it was practically deserted. Ever since they opened up the new arcade nobody really comes here anymore. There was one woman and her son, but besides that, we were the only ones here. Casey jumped out of the car and sprinted to the swing set, and I slowly followed after her. She sat in the swing and motioned for me to sit in the one beside her.

"So, what made you want to come to the playground?" I asked the question I have been wondering about ever since she asked to come here.

"I don't know. I just thought before we had to go to the doctor's that we should have some fun."

"Well, I'm happy you picked to come here." I said leaning on the chain of the swing, getting closer to her face.

"Uh, yeah, me too."

I don't know what happened, but I was moving closer and closer to her face. It felt as if I was gravitating towards her and I could stop, and she was doing the same. My lips were about five inches away from hers; _three, two, one…_

_BR-R-R-RING! BR-R-R-R-RING!_ Her cell phone started ringing. She leaned back and opened it and started talking.

"Hello… Oh hey mom… Yeah, we're at the play ground… Mhmm… Ok, we'll be there… Love you, bye." She hung up the phone and got out of the swing.

"What did she say?"

"She said that your appointment got moved up to eleven-thirty, so we have to go now." She said pulling the car keys out of her pocket and started fiddling with them.

"Oh…" I said not really wanting to face the doctor.

"Yeah, let's go." she held out a hand to help me up.

I grabbed her hand and got up. When I was standing I didn't let go and neither did she. We walked hand in hand to the car and let go only to get to our designated sides, and when we got in the car I grabbed her hand again. The drive to the doctor's office was silent, neither of us saying a word. Casey pulled up in the parking lot and got as close as she could to the entrance so I didn't have to walk far. We got out and met at the front of the car to hold each other's hand and walk in together. Walking towards the front desk we were met with a blonde nurse.

"Hello," she said cheerfully, "How may I help you today?"

"We have an appointment for Derek Venturi." Casey said, smiling back at the blonde woman.

"Ok, I need you to fill out these forms," she said as she handed me a clipboard with papers latched on to it, "And the doctor will see you momentarily."

"Thank you." Casey replied and walked over to one of the plastic chairs sitting in the waiting room, and I followed.

It took only a few minutes to fill out the paperwork the blonde nurse gave to me and Casey brought them back up to the front desk. She stood at the desk talking to the women smiling and talking for a couple of minutes and I picked up a magazine to read. Casey soon came back and sat down beside me. I flipped through the pages of the magazine not really looking at anything on them when a nurse walked out of the door.

"Derek Venturi, the doctor is ready to see you."

I got up and Casey followed right behind me. We walked down a hallway and the nurse led us through a door to a room. The room was painted a pale pink and a few paintings of scenery lined the walls. There was a chair in the corner and the examining table sitting in the middle. I slowly hopped up on the table and Casey took a seat in the chair. The nurse took my temperature, my blood pressure, told us that the doctor would be in soon, and then left. Casey and I waited in silence waiting for the doctor and he finally came in.

"Hello, Derek. How are you doing?" he asked cheerfully.

"I'm good Dr. Baker, how about you?" I asked being polite.

"I'm good. So, what can I do for you today?"

"Well for about the past two weeks my left leg has been killing me, and yesterday Marti ran into it and I almost passed out from the pain." I said giving him the short version.

"Ok, let's take a look." He said as he bent down and rolled up my pants leg.

I looked down at my leg and saw the knot that was on my shin and saw that the rest of my leg was swollen. Dr. Baker touched it very lightly and I flinched at the pain. He sat there just looking at my leg trying to assess it.

"Well Derek, I would like to get an x-ray of your leg and get a blood sample to see if something shows up." He wrote some stuff down on a piece of paper and walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a needle and syringe._ Ugh, I hate needles_

I pulled up my sleeve and Dr. Baker wrapped a piece of elastic band around my upper arm and dabbed the crease of my elbow with a cotton ball with alcohol on it. I turned my head to the side, trying to pretend that I wasn't getting a needle stuck in my arm, and the next thing I know Casey was standing beside me holding my hand. I gave her a weak smile and she smiled back. Soon Dr. Baker had a vial full of my blood and I relaxed, but not letting go of Casey's hand.

"Ok, since we have that done, let's go get your x-ray done." He walked out of the room and I hopped off the table, and Casey and I followed him.

We entered a room and Dr. Baker told me to lay on a table that was in the middle of the room and for Casey to go into the room that had a big window that viewed the room. He picked up a heavy apron and laid it on top of me and walked in the room with Casey.

"Derek, you need to stay very still, ok?" he is deep voice boomed over an intercom in the room.

I nodded my head and then when completely still. There were some weird noises and after a few minutes Dr. Baker came back into the room and removed the heavy apron from my body.

"That should do it. I will call you next week with your results, and until then I don't want you playing hockey or doing anything strenuous. Ok?"

"Yes sir." We shook hands and then he left the room.

"You ready to go?" Casey asked coming up behind me.

"Yes, let's get out of this place." I wrapped my arm around her waist and we walked out of the office and got in the car.

OoOoO

It's been a week since I went to the doctor's office and it has been the longest week of my life. I haven't been able to play hockey or do anything for that matter. All I have done I gone to school, and then come directly home. I hate not being able to do anything. The only good things that have come out of this have been that I have spent more time with Casey and I have worked on my music.

The phone rang downstairs; my heart stops. All day I have been waiting for Dr. Baker to call, but he hasn't yet, and since I haven't heard any cries of anguish, I'm guessing that's not him that just called. I went back to playing my guitar, and there was a soft knock on my door. I got up and opened the door to find Casey standing on the other side, tears rolling down her face.

"Casey, what's wrong?" I said grabbing her shoulders.

"D-Dr. B-B-Baker just called…" she said her words coming out thick.

"W-what did he say?" I asked scared out of my mind.

"He s-said you h-h-have…"

"I have what?"

"C-c-cancer…"

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**I hope you loved it! I really hated that I did that to Derek:( I hope you review so I know what to do; whether to make it a oneshot or to keep it a story...  
REVIEW LIKE THE WIND!**


	2. The Air Feels Thick

**Hello:) Everyone that reviewed on chapter one convinced me that I need to continue this story! I would like to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed and the people that have put this story on their alerts:) ****This chapter is shorter than the last, but I think it is pretty darn good. I've had a few parts that gave me a really hard time, but I think this is a good kind of fluffy chapter for what is to come. **

**I want to state right now that I am not a doctor; I am a highschool student. I have researched this cancer and I have read entries from the families of the children that have this cancer and used the information to write this story. I have no idea how it feels to go through everything these people go through, but I am using their experiences to help me understand. If there are any mistakes in how a real doctor would treat this type of cancer, I am apologizing in advance. If you have any advise or any inputs you would like to share, please don't hesitate to ask.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own LWD**

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I have Osteosarcoma. Bone cancer. I never thought that I would be someone who would get cancer. Right after the phone call from Dr. Baker, Casey and I went downstairs to tell dad and Nora. It was the worst moment of my life…

"_Dad? Nora?" I called as I walked down the stairs with Casey at my side._

"_We're in the kitchen!" Nora yelled._

_Casey and I walked into the kitchen and found my dad working over some legal papers on the counter and Nora was making supper. My dad took off his glasses and looked at Casey with a worried look and then looked to me._

"_Derek, what's going on?" he asked standing up off the stool._

_Nora turned around and left the food cooking on the stove and ran over to Casey. She pulled her up into a hug and asked, "What's wrong baby?" Casey didn't respond._

"_Uhh… Maybe you guys should sit down for this…" I said my voice shaky. _

"_Derek, you're scaring me." Nora said as she let go of Casey and sat on the stool beside my dad._

"_Well, there is n-no easy way t-to say this…" I said my voice quivering, "Dr. Baker s-said I h-h-have cancer."_

_Nora pulled her hands up to her mouth and held in her sobs while my dad got off his stool and hugged me as hard as he could. Casey crumpled to her knees on the floor and sobs overtook her body. When my dad finally let me go to comfort Nora, I sat on the floor beside Casey and rubbed her back. She pulled her head up and looked at me with a tearstained face, bringing her arms around my neck and pulling herself into me. It felt as if it was all surreal; like it wasn't happening to me, but to someone else. _

"_Hey, what's going on?" Edwin asked as Lizzie, Marti, and he walked into the kitchen._

_I got up off the floor, still holding on to Casey, and walked over to my three younger siblings._

"_Guys, I have cancer. Now just because I have it, I don't want you to treat me any differently, ok. I'm still the same Derek; I'm just going to be a little weaker." I need to be strong for them. I look at their faces and see the pain etched into them, except for Marti; hers was full of confusion._

"_Smerek… what's cancer?" I let go of Casey and walked over to my baby sister and kneeled beside her._

"_It's a sickness Smarti. I'm going to be sick for a while, and I'm going to have to go to the doctor's a lot, but I'm going to be ok."_

"_You better be Smerek." She said as she pulled her little arms around my neck and I could feel her small tears hit my shoulder. _

That was three weeks ago. I have been going for chemo once a week and it is kicking my butt. I'm exhausted and feel very weak, but I try to stay upbeat for the rest of the family and my friends.

During my first chemo treatment Dr. Baker told the family what was to come. After a couple of rounds of chemo he would have to perform surgery on my leg. He would go in and remove the tumor and some of my leg. To keep from having to amputate my leg he was going to reconstruct the part of my leg he had to take out with metal. He scheduled my surgery three months after my first session of chemo. Sure it's going to be scary, but he said my chances were very high since we caught it early on. Two months from now, I was scheduled to go into surgery.

My hair just recently started to fall out little by little and it is starting to scare me. I feel like when everyone looks at me all they see is the cancer, not Derek.

Casey has been by my side 24/7 ever since the call from Dr. Baker. She comes with me to chemo and holds my hand as nausea over takes my senses. Today is my third treatment and Sam is going to meet me and Casey at the hospital to spend the day with us.

"How are you feeling Derek?" Casey asked as we walked through the doors of the hospital.

"I'm ok I guess." I said as we got in the elevator to go to the third floor.

We made it to the chemo room and the nurse sat me down in a chair and started my chemo. The air feels thick, and it smells sterile; I hate feeling like I spend half my life here. After a few minutes Sam walked through the door, it was good to see him.

"Hey D. How ya doin buddy?" he asked in a chipper tone.

"I'm ok, I guess." I said repeating what I said only mere minutes before; not really even believing myself.

"Well, I have a surprise for you!" he said pulling a blue gift bag out from behind his back and handing it to me.

"What is this for?" I asked taking the bag.

"I just wanted to give you something."

I pulled the tissue paper out of the bag and laying in the very bottom was something made of fabric; I pulled the light blue, baby blue, and dark blue striped beanie out of the bag and just stared at it in awe.

"Sam, I can't take this from you. It's your lucky beanie…" I said trying to hand it back to him.

He pushed it back towards me, "Derek, I want you to have it. It's given me loads of luck, and now I don't need it, you do."

I held the beanie in my hand looking over it. I thought about when Sam first bought it. I thought it was the ugliest thing I had ever laid eyes on, but now it was the most wonderful present I have ever got.

"Thanks man. This really means a lot to me," I said pulling it over my thinning hair, "How does it look?"

"It looks way better on you than it does me."

Casey giggled, "I told you he would love it."

We sat there and laughed for a few moments, and then Casey and Sam started telling me about what had been going on at school. Since I've been diagnosed dad and Nora thought it would be best if I stayed at home, but I tried to push through it. After about a week I could barely walk to my classes, so Casey convinced my teachers that she could teach me everything that we would learn, and they accepted that; pretty much because they had no other choice. Over the past few weeks the knot, the tumor, in my leg has grown bigger and it hurts to stand on it for more than five minutes; so there is no way I could make it through a school day at this point.

"… and now Max is dating that floozy Katie McCreary. What did I ever see in that scumbag?"

"What? He was just dating Sage like two weeks ago!" I exclaimed, thanking God that Casey had gotten out of that relationship all together.

"Well, the boy moves around." She replied looking down at her hands.

"I'm glad that you have finally moved on from him." I said with a week smile. Casey smiled back and I grabbed her hand in mine softly.

"Speaking of floozies, Sally wants to come visit you…" Sam interjected and I released Casey's hand.

I ended Sally and I's relationship just days before I got diagnosed. I walked into her house to find her _"messing around"_, as she put it, with Truman French. She ran after me as I walked out of the house, begging and pleading for me to forgive her; but I couldn't. After I got diagnosed she has tried to contact me, but I blocked her number from my cell; so I guess she has resorted to getting Sam to send me her messages.

"Tell her I never want to see her again, and to leave me the hel-" my sentence was cut short by the presence of bile rising in my throat. Casey saw the look on my face and moved a bed pan under my chin.

After emptying my empty stomach I looked up to Sam and Casey, examining the reaction on their faces. Casey looked a little shaken up, but ok; Sam on the other hand had paled an immeasurable amount.

"Sorry about that guys…" I said awkwardly as the nurse took the bed pan from my lap.

"It's ok Derek; you had no control over it." Casey said rubbing my back.

"I know, but still-"

"Derek, quit apologizing for something that is not your fault right this minute." She interjected with a stern look on her face.

"Yes mother." I said with a tiny smirk growing larger on my face as she realized that I just referred to her as acting like my mother.

"DER-EK!" she screeched so loud the five nurses around us _shhh-_ed her. She looked down in embarrassment, twittling her thumbs.

I couldn't help but laugh at her expression; it was comical.

Sam's phone buzzed loudly and he excused himself to answer it. After a few minutes he returned looking sad.

"I have to go, my little sister got sick and I have to go take care of her while my mom's at work. Are you two going to be ok by yourselves?" Sam quickly said with a strange tone to his voice.

"Umm… yeah man, we'll be ok. I'm almost done anyways." I said confused.

"I'll see you tomorrow Casey, and Derek I will see you tomorrow afternoon for some well needed Babe Raider." He said with a sly grin.

We finished our goodbyes and then it was only Casey and I left. I had about ten more minutes of my chemo left, and I was dreading every minute I had to sit in this chair. The only thing that was keeping me sane was the girl sitting beside me; Casey.

Every time I'm around her, I feel as if we are becoming closer and closer. I think I might be starting to care for her as more than a friend…_ I can't love her, can I? Does she have feelings for me too? Even if I do love her, I can't. I might die, and I can't bring her hopes up and then die on her. I will not put her through that. I have to promise myself that I will never fall in love with Casey McDonald._

After ten minutes of thinking over mine and Casey's relationship, only to find that it was going to be harder than I thought to stay away from her, my chemo for this was finally over. The nurse unhooked me from all of the machines and Casey helped wheel me out the front doors of the hospital. I hate having to be wheeled around, but after chemo I can barely stand up by myself. Casey helped me get in the car and then moved around to the driver side and started up the Prince.

"Its eleven-forty-two, I don't feel like going home." I said pouting in the passenger seat.

"Ok, where do you want to go?"

"I don't care, as long as it's not home!" I said as I threw my arms up in the air, "I'm sick of being stuck there all day every day! I feel like I'm trapped by the house and the cancer is closing in around me, suffocating me!"

"Ok… umm… where could we go?"

"Let's go to the playground."

"Are you sure you're going to be up for it Derek? I mean you just got through with chemo, and yo-"

"Please Case! I really wanna go!" I yelled interrupting her overprotective rant, "Pretty pwwwwweeeeeeezzzzzz!" I pulled out the puppy-dog eyes; a sure argument winner.

Casey's eyes twitched away from mine and I could tell she was caving.

"Ok! Fine, we will go to the dang playground!"_ Success!_

"Yay!" I exclaimed from my seat feeling like a five year old again.

She pulled out of the parking lot and got out on the road. Soon we were parking in front of the playground and Casey turned to me with a serious face.

"Now Derek, if you get tired I want you to tell me. I don't want you over exerting yourself, ok?" she said in a slow tone.

"Yes mother… can we go now?"

She smiled at me and got out, walked around to my side, and helped me out of the car. I rapped my arm around her shoulder and she snaked her arm around my waist to keep me steady. We walked - well she walked and I hobbled - over to the swings and she placed me in my swing before moving to sit in hers. We sat there in silent for a couple of minutes before I couldn't take it anymore.

"Casey…"

"Hmm?" she was apparently deep in thought.

"What were you just thinking about?" her face took on three different shades of red and she looked down into her lap.

"Uh… nothing really…"_ she's such a terrible liar._

"Come on Case, please tell me." I begged.

"It was nothing Derek."

"Stop lying and just tell me what you were thinking about!" I said a little rudely.

"I was thinking about what almost happened the last time we were here! Are you happy?" she said irritated. She turned her head away from me, I'm guessing in embarrassment.

_Last time we were here… _I couldn't help but smile.

I got up off my swing and walked over to the other side of Casey's swing and kneeled so she was looking at me. I cupped my hand on her cheek and looked into her eyes; big pools of blue stared back at me. Right then I knew I broke the promise I made to myself just earlier today.

"Well," I whispered, "Let's pick up where we stopped." I smiled and leaned into her.

Our lips met and it felt like I had been struck by lightning. An electric current raced through my veins and I felt light headed. I pulled back and smiled at her, and she smiled back; but then something happened. Her smiling face turned into one of fear. Then everything went pitch black.

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**I know what you are thinking**_... Why are you doing this to Derek? What did he ever did to you? _**- Trust me, I don't like doing it to Derek! lol**

**I know I started the Dasey-ness really early, but it is building up to something way more:) I hope you liked it!**

**!Please review and tell me what you think!**


	3. Come Back Or I Will Kill You

**I know that it has been for ever since updated, and I am sorry for keeping you all in suspence. I'm not too sure about this chapter, but I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own LwD, but I hope to find Michael Seater under my Christmas tree this year!:)**

**Oh, and I almost forgot... I changed Derek's surgery date in chapter 2 from one week to two months:)**

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A bright light was being flashed across my eyes. I tried to push it away, but I couldn't move my arm. I finally got my eyes fully opened and adjusted to the light and looked around. White walls surrounded me and the stench of sterilization hit my nose; the hospital. Then my eyes found the reason why I couldn't move my arm; Casey was laying on it. I pulled over the remote that moved the bed and pressed the _up _button. The top of the bed moved forward slowly until I was in a sitting position.

She looked beautiful asleep. I lifted my hand that wasn't being pinned down by her and moved it closer to her face. Pushing back some of her hair from her face, I touched her eyelid and she stirred in her sleep. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and once she caught sight of me tears started to build up in those big, blue eyes.

"D-Derek?" it came out a strangled whisper.

"Who else would it be?"

Tears flowed freely down her face and she tackled me into a hug. It surprised me at first, but I wrapped my arms around her and hugged back just as tight. She pulled back and kissed me, leaving me light headed. Laying her head on my shoulder, I could feel her hot tears seeping into my hospital gown and you could here quiet, little sobs escape her lips. I slowly rocked back and forth trying to calm her down, but she continued to cry and hold on to me tighter. Looking around the room I saw that none of the family was to be seen and it confused me._ Where are they? And why am I here in the first place?_

"Princess," I pulled her up to where she was looking into my eyes, "what happened? The last thing I remember is kissing you at the park…"

"I think I can answer that question Derek." Dr. Baker said as he entered the room.

I moved Casey to where she was sitting in my lap and looked back up to Dr. Baker.

"Ok, then spill."

"You had a minor seizure. Usually when you deal with chemo patients and seizures it's because the chemo is to get rid of a brain tumor, but with us having to increase your chemo because the cancer isn't reacting the way it should, it cause one." Questions started to spin around in my head and I quickly wanted to know answers.

"How long was I out?"

"Five hours…" I looked over at Casey and could not believe the number of hours that just came out of her mouth.

"Really?" she nodded her head and I moved on to the next question.

"Is there something to do to stop them?"

"Unfortunately, for you, not with your chemo, but there is a bigger problem than this. Derek, the chemo isn't decreasing the size of the tumor. It's getting bigger and we can't up your dose, because it would kill you. You have to have surgery and soon."

"You're moving up my surgery?"

"Yes, but we're not really sure what's going to be done. With how severe your cancer is, we're going to have to wait and see once we get in the OR room."

"When is this going to happen?" I asked as if I was on autopilot.

"As soon as possible. When your parents get here I'm going to discuss it with them and see if maybe we can schedule it for today." Casey choked on her sobs and shot up looking at Dr. Baker with a crazy look.

"Really? He just had a seizure and you want to do major surgery on his leg?"

"Casey, Derek's seizure had nothing to do with his tumor, so it is perfectly ok to take him into surgery."

"B-b-b-but…"

"Shhhh…" I took a hold of Casey's face and made her look at me, "It's ok. I told you when all of this first happened that I was going to be ok, and I am telling you again, now, that it's all going to be ok. I'm going to come out of surgery safe and sound. It's going to be ok." Tears flowed down her face and it broke my heart.

"Are y-you sure?" she sniffled.

"Yes." I placed a kiss on her forehead and she cuddled into my chest.

Soon my family, and when I say family, I mean the WHOLE family came running in. Dad, Nora, Marti, Lizzie, Edwin, all 3 sets of my grandparents—step and real—and even my mom were all crowded into this itty-bitty room giving Casey and I strange looks. Nora looked like she was about to open her mouth to say something, but Dr. Baker and a nurse quickly came in the room.

"Ok, everyone that is not immediate family, and when I say this I mean, the parents of one Derek Venturi, need to please exit the room." The squatty nurse said as she led almost everyone out of the room except for dad, Nora, and mom. "Umm… Excuse me ma'am, but only his parents." The nurse said as she looked over at Nora, and she started to walk out of the room.

"She is my mom. Nora, stay, please." Nora stopped mid-step and turned around to look at me.

Her eyes became misty and a single tear fell from her eye as she smiled at me. I smiled back and gestured for Dr. Baker to talk.

"Derek had a chemo induced seizure today, and he is perfectly fine, but his tumor isn't reacting to the chemo. It has gotten bigger in the past few weeks instead of shrinking like it should, so the only solution is to take Derek into surgery today and see if there is anything we can do."

I zoned out as my parents asked questions and just sat there soaking it all in.

_I'm going into surgery in a few hours. I might die. But there are so many things I wanted to do… graduate, go backpacking around Europe, meet the girl of my dreams, get married, have a family, and grow old… I guess I can cross one of those things off of my list. How is it possible that I never saw Casey that way? It's like all of a sudden my eyes have been open and all I can see is her._

After Dr. Baker answered all of my parent's questions he took them out in the hallway to sign some papers, and left Casey and I alone. I twirled pieces of her hair around my finger and listened to her breathing.

"Derek, I'm scared…" she whispered.

"I know Princess, but it's alright. I'm going to come back as good as new." I leaned in and kissed her.

"Ehmmm…" Casey and I pulled apart to see our parents and Dr. Baker standing in front of us, "Derek, we need to prep you for surgery."

"Oh, ok," I looked down at Casey and the look on her face shattered my heart, "Can you give us one more moment?"

"Sure." They all walked out of the room and I pulled Casey closer to me.

"P-promise you'll c-c-come back…"

"I will. I have to come back to you and finish what we started." I brought my face to hers and kissed her.

She tangled her fingers in my hair as I tried to get her as close to me as I could. All too soon she pulled back and we sat there trying to catch our breath, taking in as much as we could.

"I love you Case."

"I love you too." Tears filled her eyes and she crumpled into my chest.

I hollered for Dr. Baker and our parents to come back in so we could get all of this over.

"Are you ready?" Dr. Baker asked.

I nodded my head and looked over to Nora and nodded down to Casey. She understood and pulled her off of me and held her tightly. The doctor brought in a gurney and I got up to move over to it. A shot of pain shot up my leg, but I pushed through it and finally got on it.

"We'll see you when you come out." My dad said as he placed his hand on my shoulder, and I nodded, not being able to say anything else.

"I love you Derek, I know I haven't been the best mom, but I do love you."

"I know." She placed a kiss on my forehead and moved to stand with my dad.

Nora just looked at me and I knew what she wanted to say, but she was too busy trying to take care of Casey that was still crying in her arms. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

Casey turned around and ran over to me as they started to wheel me out.

"Derek, do not leave me. I swear if you leave me, I will bring you back to life and kill you again."

"I promise Spacey, I will come back to you." I kissed her one last time before getting wheeled away.

As I looked up at the ceiling, watching the florescent lights pass by me, all I could think about was my family.

_I am a horrible brother. I bossed around Ed, took his money, and bullied him. If I live I will be a better brother. Smarti, she's only seven and she is the person that knows me best, but I stopped playing Barbie's with her and told her she was 'too old for that baby stuff'. I shouldn't have done that and I will make it up to her. Lizzie has been begging me to teach her how to play hockey, but I've always said I was too busy. I will teach her after this. I've also been a terrible son. I'm a slob, rude, unhelpful, but this will all change. As for Casey, I want to live the rest of my life with her; and I will._

I got wheeled into a huge room with all of this technical stuff sitting around and one big light in the middle of all of it. As they parked me right under the light they started hooking stuff to me and I felt terrified.

"Ok Derek," Dr. Baker said as he moved in front of me, "We're going to put you under anesthetic and then when you wake up, hopefully you will be cancer free."

I nodded my head and swallowed hard. _This is it._ I watched as a man put a syringe full of whit liquid into my IV and everything started to blur in front of my eyes. Soon everything went black again for the second time today.

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**I hope you liked it. I feel like I'm losing my creativity, my brain is going to mush, and I am giving y'all crappy chapters... So please, if you may, press the review button and give me some feedback:)**


	4. You're Awake

Since today is my FF birthday, I decided that I would upload all of my stories! I am officially 1 year old, and I feel like there needs to be some celebration by giving you guys an overdue update! I really hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah... We know I own absolutely nothing!

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"_Casey, I'm home."_

"_Hey honey," she kissed me quickly on the lips and went back to cooking, "How was your day?"_

"_It was good. That smells wonderful." I said as I wrapped my arms around her and nuzzled her neck._

"_Could you go tell the kids that dinner is going to be ready soon?" I nodded my head and headed towards the stairs._

_I walked up to a door with butterflies and blue letters that scrawled out_ Kaylie._ I opened the door to find a girl about three years old, laying on her bed drawing on paper with a purple marker. She looked up at me with big, blue eyes and her auburn colored curls bounces as she got up and ran towards me; her features were a perfect blend of Casey's and mine. I opened my arms just in time to catch her into a hug._

"_Daddy! Can we pway Pwincess Adventure?" she asked bouncing up and down in my arms._

"_Mommy wants us to go down to dinner right now, but after we definitely can Princess Kaylie." I smiled down at her and she wrapped her little arms around my neck before I set her feet down on the ground and she ran downstairs._

_I moved towards the next door and the design on it looked older than the one before it. A big multi-colored peace sign took up most of the door and in the middle of it, in black lettering was the name_ Bethany._ I knocked on the door and slowly opened it to see a girl about twelve sitting in the middle of her floor also with a marker in hand. _DON'T EAT MEAT! _was written in big letters across the poster board sitting in front of her._

"_You have a protest coming up soon Bethany?"_

"_Yes, they are opening a new Mark's Meats down the road, and a bunch of us are going down there."_

"_You know I really don't like you going to those protests. You could really get hurt…"_

"_Dad, I will be fine. Mom is coming with me to help." She said with a triumphant smile; her brown eyes sparkling with happiness._

"_Speaking of mom, she told me to tell you to get ready for dinner."_

"_Ok, let me finish this last poster and I will be down." I ruffled her light brown hair, and then walked out of the room._

_The last door I came to was totally different from the others; there was no decoration on it what so ever. I knocked and heard a quite 'come in'. As I walked in I spotted a boy of about sixteen sitting in front of a computer screen with a phone attached to his head. His chocolate brown eyes, auburn hair, and permanent smirk almost made me fall to the ground; he looked exactly like I did when I was his age, although his room was way too clean for my taste._

"_Mom said come down to dinner."_

"_Ok dad, I'll be down after I get off the phone with Elli."_

"_Didn't you just see her at school?"_

"_Yeah…"_

"_Well then you can spare thirty minutes to come and eat."_

"_Dad, really?"_

"_Yes, really." I walked over to him and took the phone from his hand, "Hello Elli… Atticus has to come down for dinner. He will call you back later." I hung up the phone and threw it at him._

"_Ugh! You really get on my nerves."_

"_I know. Come on, dinner is probably ready."_

"_Not hungry."_

"_Oh really?" I grabbed him in a choke hold and walked out of his room and down the stairs, with him complaining of 'how this was unfair.'_

_I let go of him and sat him down into his chair. The others were already in their chairs ready to eat as I took my seat. Everyone started filling their plates full, smiling, laughing, telling about how their day was; and I just sat back and smiled at my beautiful family._

"_Derek, I need you to wake up." I heard what sounded like Casey's voice, but when I looked up at her she was looking down at her plate._

"_Wake up!"_

I opened my eyes slightly and was blinded by bright, fluorescent lights. After blinking a few times my eyes adjusted to the light, and my eyes met the very person I was dreaming about.

"Hey Princess."

"You're awake!" she squealed and pressed a button on the wall.

"Is the cancer gone?" I sat up to find all of my family, with Emily and Sam, standing in front of me with weird looks plastered across their faces.

"The doctor will be here in just a second." She had a strange look in her eyes, but we waited a few moments and then Doctor Baker walked in.

"Good to see you are awake Derek." Dr. Baker said as he walked into the room.

"It really is. So, what's up Doc? Is the cancer gone?"

"Yes, we successfully removed it." Again with the strange looks…

"That's great! Did you put in the prosthetic like we talked about?"

"No Derek, I didn't. There is something we need to talk about…"

"Ok…"

"We had to amputate your leg to remove all of the cancerous cells." Everyone looked at me with tears in their eyes, but there is no way they could fool me like this.

"Hahaha! That is funny. What did you really do?"

"It's the truth Derek." Casey said from beside me.

"What?" I quickly flung the sheets off of my leg. It was like time had stopped and I automatically felt a wave of nausea hit me.

There was only half a leg on my left side. From the knee down there was nothing there but pure air. I slowly reached my hand down and felt the spot where my leg should have been. It all came crashing down on me in a matter of seconds._ I won't be able to play hockey, get a hockey scholarship, and go pro. I won't be able to live that life I was just dreaming about… I won't even be able to walk up the stairs to my room… my life… it's never going to be the same… _This was not a trick. I couldn't take my eyes away from the end of my leg. I could make out the shape of my knee under all of the white bandages, and I carefully ran my fingers over it. My eyes watered and I felt Casey rubbing my back, and distantly I could hear the doctor talking to me but it was muffled through all of my thoughts.

"Bu- Wha- Why?"

"Well, we tried to remove the tumor first, but as we got closer to your tibia, we found that the cancer had been eating away at it. The cancer had imbedded itself into the bone, and the only way we could have ever gotten it all out was to amputate." _This is too much…_

"I need some time alone…" the words left my mouth, not by my control.

"Derek, are you ok?" came my dad's voice from in front of me.

I nodded my head and they all started filing out of the room one by one. After the door finally closed I let the tears that I had been holding back loose. I pulled my hands up to my face and let the tears fall as I tried to understand all of this. _My leg is gone. My leg is gone. My. Leg. Is. FREAKIN'. Gone. My life is over. I won't even be able to walk to class, I will have to be wheeled around. I won't be able to play hockey… ugh! This stupid cancer has ruined my life! And what about Casey? She won't want to be with a one-legged freak…_

The tears didn't stop as I thought of all the things I would never be able to do._ I won't be able to drive. I won't be able to stand at the altar when I get married. I won't be able to walk my bride through the threshold of our house. I won't be able to pick up my kids and through them over my back. None of this will be possible._

I sat and lolled in self-pity for what felt like hours. The sun had risen and fell again in the sky as every once in a while a nurse would come by to check on me. My family stayed out in the waiting room as I tried to put all of this together in my mind. The nurses tried to get me to eat but I would just push the food away, afraid that if I at anything it would just come right back up.

"How do you feel about a visitor?" Came a small voice, and I looked up to find Casey standing by the door.

"I don't feel like talking about it Casey." Her face fell and she looked at me with a strange look.

"What is with the strange look?"

"It's just that lately you only call me Casey if you are really upset or mad…"

"Well how do you think I feel? I am mad! I am upset! I have the right to be! I didn't even get a say in this Casey. They just took my leg off without a second thought!" anger boiled inside of me and hot tears trailed down my face.

"They did it to save you Derek. If they didn't then you would have-"

"I would have died with a leg. I would take that over this," I threw the blanket off of my leg, "any day."

"D-don't say that…"

"It's the truth! I would have rather spent my last few days doing things with both my legs than spend the rest of my life missing one."

"How could you say that? You would have rather left your whole family here mourning your death than actually be here with them? You would leave me?"

"It's not like you would want to be with a one-legged freak anyways."

"Derek, I-"

"Just stop. Leave me alone."

"But-"

"Leave. Now."

Her eyes filled with tears and she quickly turned and ran out of the room. Sure it hurt me to yell at her and tell her I would leave her in a heartbeat just to have my legs for just a few more minutes, but it's how I feel right now. It's just better this way. Laying in the hospital bed, looking up at the ceiling, I wish for a way to turn back time, a way to find the cancer sooner than we had, a way for everything to go back to normal. Slowly my eyes drooped closed and I fell right back into the middle of the dream that would never happen.

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He lost his leg:( I didn't want to do it, but that was the only thing I could do! I hope you don't hate me!

Review?:)


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